Semi Solid Processing Of Alloys And Composites

Semi-solid metal (SSM) processing, as a viable alternative manufacturing route to those of conventional casting and forging, has not yet been fully exploited despite nearly half a century since its introduction to the metal industry. The slow pace of adopting SSM routes may be due to various reasons, including capital costs, profit margins, and, most importantly, the lack of detailed analysis of various SSM processes in open literature to confidently establish their advantages over more conventional routes. Therefore, the SSM community must disseminate their findings more effectively to generate increased confidence in SSM processes in the eyes of our industrial leaders. As such, we have embarked on the task to invite the leaders in SSM research to share their findings in a Special Issue dedicated to semi-solid processing of metals and composites. SSM processing takes advantage of both forming and shaping characteristics usually employed for liquid and solid materials. In the absence of shear forces, the semi-solid metal has similar characteristics to solids, i.e., easily transferred and shaped; by applying a defined force, the viscosity is reduced and the material flows like a liquid. These unique dual characteristics have made SSM routes attractive alternatives to conventional casting on an industrial scale. With the intention of taking full advantage of SSM characteristics, it is crucial to understand SSM processing, including topics such as solidification and structural evolution, flow behavior through modelling and rheology, new processes and process control, alloy development, and properties in general. This Special Issue focuses on the recent research and findings in the field with the aim of filling the gap between industry and academia, and to shed light on some of the fundamentals of science and technology of semi-solid processing.

These proceedings of the 12th International Conference on Semi-Solid Processing of Alloys and Composites contain the papers which were presented at the conference, held in Cape Town (South Africa) between the 8th and 11th October 2012. The aim of these international conferences is to provide a forum where the leading researchers, engineers and industrialists in this field can gather in order to share their work and knowledge, and hold lively discussions concerning current fundamental issues in semi-solid metal processing. Volume is indexed by Thomson Reuters CPCI-S (WoS). The contents are divided into 5 distinct sections: Microstructure and Properties; Process Development; Modeling, Simulation and Rheology; Materials Development and Alloy Design and Industrial Applications.

Semisolid metallurgy (SSM) is now some 37-years-old in terms of time from its conception and ?rst reduction to practice in the laboratory. In the intervening years, there has been a steadily growing body of research on the subject and the beginning of signi?cant industrial applications. The overall ?eld of SSM comprises today a large number of speci?c process routes, almost all of which fall in the category of either “Rheocasting” or Thi- casting.” The former begins with liquid metal and involves agitation during partial solidi?cation followed by forming. The latter begins with solid metal of suitable structure and involves heating to the desired fraction solid and forming. Research over the past 37 years, and particularly over the last decade, has provided a detailed picture of process fundamentals and led to a wide range of speci?c SSM processes and process innovations. Industrial studies and actual p- duction experience are providing a growing picture of the process advantages and limitations. At this time, the conditions for eventual wide adoption of SSM appear favorable, both for nonferrous and ferrous alloys. It must, however, be recognized that major innovations, such as SSM become adopted only slowly by industries where capital costsarehigh,pro?tmarginsaremodest,andfailuretomeetcustomercommitments carries a high penalty.

Selected peer-reviewed extended articles based on abstracts presented at the 17th International Conference on Semi-Solid Processing of Alloys and Composites (S2P) Aggregated Book

Volume is indexed by Thomson Reuters CPCI-S (WoS). This volume is dedicated to the science and technology of the semi-solid processing of metals.

Volume is indexed by Thomson Reuters CPCI-S (WoS). This special volume is dedicated to the science and technology of the semi-solid processing of metals. Since the recognition of the possibility of manipulating metals in the semi-solid state, during the seventies, this fascinating technology has experienced dynamic development and has led to a whole family of new production processes, new equipment and industrial applications. In order to exploit fully the technical and economic potential of these new ideas, it is important to achieve a better understanding of the microstructural development and flow behavior in order to improve material and process modelling as well as process control.

The 14th S2P International Conference (October 23 – 27, 2016, Salt Lake City, USA) was dedicated to the science and processing technologies of the semi-solid metal alloys and composites. Since the discovery of the specific flow behavior of metals in semi-solid state during the early seventies, this fascinating technology has experienced a dynamic and turbulent development history which has led to a whole family of new production processes, new equipments and industrial applications for goals of full use of the technical and economic potential of the flow behaviour, improved materials and process modelling as well as control of processes. All S2P International Conferences have contributed to achieve this goal by providing a forum for scientists to share the common knowledge and to develop a common sense on fundamental topics and industrial requirements.

This book describes in great detail the semi-solid processing of aluminum alloys. The authors examine the fundamentals of semi-solid metal processing, provide guidelines for research, illustrate the tools that are employed, and explain the measured parameters for semi-solid processing characterization.